diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 61a2338..291d3bf 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -39,6 +39,17 @@
 #   state transfer
 #   Defaults to 4568
 #
+# [*wsrep_sst_method*]
+#   (optional) The method to use for state snapshot transfer
+#   between nodes
+#   Defaults to rsync
+#   xtrabackup, xtrabackup-v2, mysqldump, and skip options are also
+#   accepted
+#   Note that rsync 3.10 is incompatible with Percona XtraDB 5.5
+#   currently (see launchpad bug #1315528). xtrabackup-v2 is the
+#   recommended solution when using Percona XtraDB on platforms such as
+#   Ubuntu trusty which provide rsync 3.10
+#
 # [*root_password*]
 #   (optional) The mysql root password.
 #   Defaults to 'test'
@@ -76,6 +87,7 @@
   $wsrep_group_comm_port            = 4567,
   $wsrep_state_transfer_port        = 4444,
   $wsrep_inc_state_transfer_port    = 4568,
+  $wsrep_sst_method                 = 'rsync',
   $root_password                    = 'test',
   $override_options                 = {},
   $vendor_type                      = 'percona',
diff --git a/manifests/params.pp b/manifests/params.pp
index a2301e1..1402aba 100644
--- a/manifests/params.pp
+++ b/manifests/params.pp
@@ -54,6 +54,25 @@
   else {
     fail('This distribution is not supported by the puppet-galera module')
   }
+
+  # add auth credentials for SST methods which need them:
+  #  mysqldump, xtrabackup, and xtrabackup-v2
+  if ($galera::wsrep_sst_method in [ 'skip', 'rsync' ]) {
+    $wsrep_sst_auth = undef
+  }
+  elsif ($galera::wsrep_sst_method in
+    [ 'mysqldump',
+    'xtrabackup',
+    'xtrabackup-v2' ])
+  {
+    $wsrep_sst_auth = "root:${galera::root_password}"
+  }
+  else {
+    $wsrep_sst_auth = undef
+    warning("wsrep_sst_method of ${galera::wsrep_sst_method} not recognized")
+  }
+
+
     $default_options = {
       'mysqld' => {
         'bind-address'                      => $galera::bind_address,
@@ -61,7 +80,8 @@
         'wsrep_provider'                    => $galera::params::libgalera_location,
         'wsrep_cluster_address'             => "gcomm://${server_csl}",
         'wsrep_slave_threads'               => '8',
-        'wsrep_sst_method'                  => 'rsync',
+        'wsrep_sst_method'                  => $galera::wsrep_sst_method,
+        'wsrep_sst_auth'                    => $wsrep_sst_auth,
         'binlog_format'                     => 'ROW',
         'default_storage_engine'            => 'InnoDB',
         'innodb_locks_unsafe_for_binlog'    => '1',
diff --git a/spec/classes/galera_init_spec.rb b/spec/classes/galera_init_spec.rb
index 74ac333..f0750ee 100644
--- a/spec/classes/galera_init_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/galera_init_spec.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
       :wsrep_group_comm_port         => 4567,
       :wsrep_state_transfer_port     => 4444,
       :wsrep_inc_state_transfer_port => 4568,
+      :wsrep_sst_method              => 'rsync',
       :root_password                 => 'test',
       :override_options              => {},
       :vendor_type                   => 'percona',